Fringe tufting machine



J. L. CARD E FRINGE TUFTING MACHINE July 16, 1968 Filed May 19, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 NVENTORS:

Jbssm Ewes CRRD Wm. IAN) Easy PAssoNs July 16, 1968 J, CARD ET AL 3,392,755

FRINGE TUFTING MACHINE Filed Ma 19, 1966 s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS: JOSEPH LEWIS (n20 WILL/Am ERBY BAssoNs July 16, 1968 J, L. CARD ET AL 3,392,755

FRINGE TUFTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 19, 1966 Q INVENTORS JOSEPH LEWIS Cmzo WILLIAM E RBY PASSONS N BY :1

TTORNEY July 16, 1968 Filed May 19, 1966 J. L. CARD ET AL FRINGE 'IUFTING MACHINE 5 SheetsSheet 4 OOOOOOO OOOOOOO VENTORS Jos EPH EWIS CARD WILLIAM ERBY PAssoNs ATTORNEY July 16, 1968 J. 1.. CAI-RD ET AL 3,392,755

FRINGE TUFTING MACHINE Filed May 19, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 N NNN N Q N Emu g INVENTORS JosePH Lawns CARD WLLIAM ERBY PAssoMs United States PatentO 3,392,755 FRINGE TUFTING MACHINE Joseph LewisCard, 1515 Edgewater Circle 37406, and William Erby Passons, 1805 Verona Ave. 37421,'b0th of Chattanooga, Tenn. a

, ,Filed May 19, 1966, Ser. No.551,3.49--

3 Claims. (Cl. 139118) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A fringe tufting machine having first and second banks of vertically spaced web yarn guide fingers, the banks being mounted in vertical parallel planes for transverse reciprocation, eccentric drive members for re'ciprocably moving the banks of fingers in opposite transverse directions, a pair of vertically disposed yarn feed, rolls spaced from the banks of fingers to pull web yarns. therethrough, a vertically reciprocable smooth needle for carrying fringe yarns vertically between the web yarns and the feed rolls and guide fingers as the web yarns reciprocate between alternately open positions.

This invention relates to a fringe making machine, and more particularly to a tufting machine for making one or more continuous strips or belts of fringe material having either cut or loop fringes.

Heretofore, fringes have been formed in woven textile material as an integral part thereof byextending the filling yarns beyond the edge of the material and cutting the free extremities of the filling yarn. Separate fringe strips or belts have also been woven by hand and by machine.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a fringe making machine operating on the principles of tufting in order to produce strips or belts of fringe material more rapidly and more economically than have been produced by weaving methods.

Another object of this invention is to provide a fringe tufting machine which is capable of producing cut or loop fringe with a minimum of change in the hook or looper mechanism.

Another object of this invention is to provide a fringe tufting machine which may be adapted to produce one or more continuous strips or belts of fringe material simultaneously.

Another object of this invention is to provide a fringe tufting machine including transversely and oppositely reciprocating banks of fingers carrying web yarns, a vertically reciprocating needle carrying a fringe yarn, fringe looper mechanism, and means for synchronously reciprocating the needle, the web fingers, and looper, and for positively feeding the fringe and web yarns.

A further object of this invention is to provide a fringe tufting machine adapted to occupy a minimum of floor space.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the fringe tufting machine made in accordance with this invention, with the web yarns omitted;

FIG. 2 is a left end elevational view, partly in section, taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2, including the web yarns and fringe yarn for one fringe making unit, but omitting the yarns for the other fringe making unit;

FIG. 4 is a section taken along the line 44 of FIG. 3, with all yarns omitted;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged section taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3, showing theleft banks of fingers (as viewed from the front of the machine) in one'open position;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing the left banks of needles reciprocated to the opposite open position;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of the fingers and needle in-the open position of FIG. 5, and also disclosing the web'yarns and fringe yarn;

FIG. 8 is a view' similar to FIG. 7, but showing the fingers and needle just prior to reaching the opposite open position of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational View of the completed cut fringe belt; v

FIG. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional elevation of a modification of the machine for making uncut loop fringe, showing the needle in its lowermost position, and

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional elevation of another modification of the machine for making uncut loop fringe.

The drawings show a fringe tufting machine 10 designed to produce two continuous fringe strips or belts 11 simultaneously. It will, of course, be understood that the machine may be adapted to produce one continuous fringe belt 11, or three, or possibly more fringe belts by minor changes in construction.

The fringe tufting machine 10 includes a table 13 supported at a desired level by supports such as legs 14 upon the floor of the plant or working area, not shown.

Mounted on the right end of the table 13, as viewed in FIG. 1, is a motor 15 which drives, through motor pulley '16, belt 17 and pulley 18, the needle drive shaft 20 rotatably journalled in bearings 21 supported on the upper frame member 22. The left end 'of the needle shaft 20 is fixed to a counter-weighted eccentric member 24 pivotally connected by pin 25 to the lower end of crank arm 26, the upper end of which is pivotally connected by sleeve 27 to the needle bar 28. Needle bar 28 is slidably received in collars 29 and 30 fixed to the upper frame member 22 for vertical reciprocable movement. For the production of two fringe belts 11, a transverse bar 32 supporting two depending spaced needles 33 and 34, is fixed to the bottom of needle bar 28. Although the needles 33 and 34 are shown in their uppermost position in the drawings, they are vertically reciprocated through openings such as 35 and 36 in the table 13 (FIGS. 4-6) to a lowermost needle position, such as the dash-line position of needle 34 shown in FIG. 1.

Fringe yarns, such as 39 and 40, are supplied by any convenient means, such as a creel, not shown, to upper yarn feed roll 42 rotatably mounted on the upper portion of the upper frame member 22 and positively driven by the yarn feed drive shaft 43, rotatably supported on the upper frame member 22. The right end of the yarn drive shaft 43 is driven through pulley 45, belt 46 and drive pulley 47 fixed at the right end of the needle shaft 20. Thus, the yarn drive shaft 43 is driven through the needle drive shaft 20 from the motor 15. By this transmission arrangement, together with the relative sizes of the pulleys 47 and 45, and the size of the positively driven yarn feed roll 42, the feed of the fringe yarns 39 and 40 and the reciprocable drive of the needle bar 28 are synchronized.

The fringe yarns 39 and 40 pass successively around the driven feed roll 42, the lower idler yarn roll 50, through yarn guide 51 supported on needle bar 28, and then through stationary yarn guides 52 and 53 to the eyes of the respective needles 33 and 34.

Adapted to cross each needle 33 and 34 in its lowermost position to engage the respective fringe yarns 39 and 40 and form loops therein, are a pair of reciprocable cut-pile hooks 55 and 56. Each hook 55 and 56 is fixed to the hook shaft 57, rotatably journalled in walls 58 3 and 59 fixed to and depending from the table 13. Adapted to cooperate with each of the cut-pile hooks 55 and 56 are a pair of reciprocable knives 61 and 62 fixed to the knife shaft 60, which is also journalled in the side walls 58 and 59. The hooks 55 and 56 and the knives 61 and 62 are adapted to cooperate in a predetermined reciprocal relationship by means of the link bar 64 connecting the hook shaft 57 and the knife shaft 60. The right end of the hook shaft 57 is connected by an adjustable link 65 to an eccentric 67 fixed to eccentric shaft 68, journalled in the walls 59 and 69. The eccentric shaft 68 is driven through sprocket 70 and chain 71 from sprocket 72 fixed on the needle drive shaft 20. In this manner, the operation of the hooks 55 and 56 and the knives 61 and 62 are synchronized with the operation of the needles 33 and 34.

As best disclosed in FIGS. 3, 4, and 6, a pair of banks 73 and 74 of transversely extending fingers 75 and 76, respectively, are mounted for opposite transverse reciprocable movement in front of the paths of the needles 33 and 34 above the table 13. The right ends of the fingers 75 are fixed in a block 77, which in turn is fixed to a slide bar 78 slidably received in slide blocks 79 on housing 80. The slide bar 78 carries a vertically disposed slotted member 81 which receives the drive pin 82 eccentrically mounted on crank arm 83 rotatably driven by shaft 84 journalled in housing 80. Thus, rotation of the shaft 84 reciproeably drives the front bank 73 of fingers 75 transversely in a vertical transverse plane in front of the needles 33 and 34.

In a similar manner, the rear bank 74 of fingers 76 are fixed to finger block 87, secured to slide bar 88 slidably received in slide blocks 89 fixed to housing 90. The vertically disposed slotted member 91 receives the eccentric drive pin 92 mounted on the end of crank arm, not shown, similar to crank arm 83, and rotatably driven by the shaft 94. Fixed to the shaft 94 is a sprocket 95 connected by chain 96 to sprocket 97 fixed on shaft 84. The shaft 84 is in turn driven by driven sprocket 98, chain 99 and the drive sprocket .100 connected through right angle gear 101 to sprocket 102, chain 103 and a drive sprocket, hidden in the drawings, but fixed to the needle drive shaft 20.

Since the sprockets 95 and 97 are equal, and the eccentric drive pins 82 and 92 are mounted 180 apart on their respective drive shafts 84 and 94, the finger banks 73 and 74 will be driven at all times in opposite directions to each other, and at equal speeds and accelerations at any given instant. Moreover, the particular drive mechanism disclosed for the finger banks 73 and 74 reciprocates the banks 73 and 74 with simple harmonic motion so that the fingers 75 and 76 will gradually accelerate toward each other until they attain the mid-point of their stroke, and then gradually decelerate away from the midpoint. Consequently, as the banks 73 and 74 reach the extremities of each stroke, they will approach and depart from their dwell points gradually and without abruptness.

Each finger 75 includes a pair of eyes 105. There is an eye 105 in each finger 75 to cooperate with each needle 33 and 34. As best disclosed in FIGS. 5 and 6, one eye 105 in each finger 75 is in vertical alignment with the corresponding eyes 105 in the other fingers 75. In a similar manner, each finger 76 is provided with a pair of eyes 106 for each of the needles 33 and 34, and each eye 106 is vertically aligned with corresponding eyes 106 in all the other fingers 76, as best disclosed in FIGS. 5 and 6. FIGS. 5 and 6 disclose fingers 75 and 76 in their two extreme, but opposite, positions, with the eyes 105 and 106 alternating positions on opposite sides of the corresponding needle 33. All the yarns have been omitted from FIGS. 5 and 6 for clarity.

As shown in the drawings, the fingers 75 and 76 are sufiiciently long that they extend from their fixed ends in their corresponding finger blocks 77 and 87 through 4 i corresponding openings in a central guide post 108, and then through corresponding openings in the finger blocks 87 and 77 of the opposed fingers. Moreover, When the blocks 77 and 87 have been thrust to their inward extreme positions, such as block '87 in FIG. 6, the opposite fingers, such as 75, slide through corresponding openings in the block 87 and into a finger-receiving cavity within the eccentric housing 90.

Web yarns 111 are threaded through eyes in fingers 75, and web yarns 112 are threaded through eyes 106 in fingers 76. The web yarns 111 and 112 may be supplied or fed to the fingers 75 and 76 by any convenient means, such as the web yarn feed rollers 113 and 114 and through yarn guides 115 and 116 from a web yarn supply means, such as a separate creel, not'shOWn. The web yarn feed rolls 113 and 114 are positively driven together in opposite directions through gears 119 and 120. The rear web yarn feed roll 114 is positively driven through pulley 121, by belt 122 and pulley 123 fixed on shaft 124 through gear reducer 125, driven by sprocket 126, chain 127 and sprocket 128 from the right-angle gear mechanism 101.

The portions of the web yarns 111 and 112 passing to the rear of finger banks 73 and 74 are adapted to pass on opposite sides of each corresponding needle 33 and 34 while the needles are in their lower positions. The Web yarns 111 and 112 then converge between a pair of positively driven intermeshing web yarn feeding rolls or wheels 131 and 132, cooperating with the needle 34, and the feed wheels 133 and 134 cooperating with the needle 33. Feed wheels 131 and 132 cooperate and rotate in opposite directions to feed the web yarns 111 and 112 rearward and in a similar manner the pair of feed wheels 133 and 134 rotate in opposite directions also to feed their corresponding web feed yarns 1 11 and 112 rearward. The feed wheels 131-134 are journalled in a wheel frame 135, and one feed wheel in each pair, such as 131 and 133, is positively driven through right angle gear members 137 and 138 coupled by a common shaft 139, and driven by sprocket 140 and chain 141 from sprocket 142 fixed to pulley shaft 124. Of course, by the time the web yarns 111 and 112 have been gripped by the feed wheels 131 and 134, the fringe yarns 39 and 40 have already been tufted between the web yarns 1-11 and 112 to form the fringe belt 11.

The fringe belt 11 may be removed from the table 13 by means of the take-up 'rolls 145 and 146, which are positively driven in opposite directions at the same speed by means of the intermeshing gears 147 and 148. The roll 145 is driven through pulley 149, belt 150 and a pulley, hidden in the drawings, fixed to the same shaft to which the sprocket 140 is fixed. In this manner, the fringe take-up rolls 145 and 146 are driven in cooperation with the feed Wheels 131-134.

The bottom plate 152 of the feed Wheel frame 135 is fixed to the top of the table 13, and is also provided with key-shaped openings 153 and 154 corresponding to the needle openings 35 and 36 in the table 13 to permit the penetration of the needles 33 and 34 through the table 13, and also to permit the fringe belt 11 to freely depend as it is fed forward by the wheels 131-134.

The operation of the invention is as follows:

Assuming an initial operating position with the needles 33 and 34 raised to their uppermost position, as disclosed in the drawings, the cut-pile hooks 55 and 56 and their cooperating knives 61 and 62 will be in a rearward retracted position. Moreover the drive pins 82 and 92 will be in the positions disclosed in FIG. 4 so that the finger banks 73 and 74 will be at the outer extremity of their transverse strokes with the eyes 105 and 106 and Web yarns 111 and 112 spaced apart in the open position disclosed in FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 7.

With the motor running, the needles 33 and 34 descend as the web yarns 111 and 112 begin to close or move toward each other. Considering only the needle 33, since v the movement of the needle '34 is identical, the needle 33 carries the fringe yarn 39 downwadly between the spread web yarns 111 and 112, through the openings 153 and 35 until it reaches its lowermost position, comparable to the phantomline position of the needle 34 in FIG. 1. When the needle 33 reaches its lowermost position, the reciprocable cut-pile hook 55 moves across the needle 33 engaging the yarn '39 to form a loop. The needle 33 then rises to its uppermost position disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 2, as the fringe loop is cut by the knife 61. At the end of the reciprocable needle cycle, the fingers 75 and 76 have reached the extreme inward limit of their transversing movement causing the eyes 105 and 106 and the web yarns 111 and 112 to cross at their mid-points and to separate in the opposite direction until they reach their extreme positions disclosed in FIG. 6. As the web yarns 111 and 112 separate, they wrap around the needle 33 and the portion of the yarn 39 carried thereby, as shown in FIG. 8, until the needle 33 rises above the web yarns to complete the needle cycle. As the needle 33 leaves the web yarns 111 and 112, the fingers 75 and 76 are approximately in the position of FIG. 8, still moving toward their extreme open position to tighten the web yarns 111 and 112 about the fringe yarn 39. The needle cycle is repeated and the fingers 75 and 76 reverse their traversing motion to return to their original positions disclosed in FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 7.

Since there are two needle cycles or strokes for every complete finger cycle, the sprocket 98 must be about twice the diameter of the sprocket 100. In this manner, the web yarns 111 and 112 alternate open positions for each stroke of the needles 33 and 34 to form the fringe belt 11, as disclosed in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9.

In this invention, the fingers 75 and 76 must be long enough, and the eyes 105 and 106 spaced apart from each other a sufficient distance, to permit full needle penetration before the web yarns cross. Moreover, the stroke of the fingers 75 and 76 is great enough that the web yarns 111 and 112 will be tensioned about each fringe yarn 39 and 40.

The eccentric drive mechanism to provide simple harmonic motion for the finger banks 73 and 74 is desirable where long fringe is produced, that is, fringe 160 extending four inches or more from the web of the belt 11. Where fringe shorter than four inches is produced, it is preferred to have a constant-velocity stroke of the finger banks 73 and 74. Thus, the eccentric driving means 81-82 and 91-92 may be entirely replaced by hydraulic cylinders for alternately thrusting the slide rods 78 and 88 in opposite directions by reversing the fluid fiow.

If desired, the cut-pile hooks 55 and 56 and the knives 61 and 62 may be replaced solely by loop hooks 155, as disclosed in FIG. 10, to produce uncut fringe loops 161. In this event the bill of the loop hook 155 will point rearwardly in the opposite direction from the bill of the cutpile hooks 55 and 56.

As disclosed in FIG. 11, this invention could also be incorporated with a pneumatic hollow needle 163 designed to carry and blow a predetermined length of yarn 39' through and below the web yarns, not shown, carried by the fingers 75 and 76. If this type of pneumatic needle 163 is employed, then no hooks or knives would be necessary beneath the table 13. The needle 163 is hollow to receive fringe yarn 39' and to receive air forced downward and outward through the needle tip 164 from flexible hose 165 connected to a continuous source of compressed air, not shown. The needle 163 may be reciprocated by needle bar 28' and transverse bar 32' and timed with the reciprocation of the fingers 75 and 76 in the same manner as the needles 33 and 34. Moreover, fringe yarn 39' may be fed to needle 163 by the same means for feeding fringe yarns 39 and 40. The positive feeding rate of the yarn 39' determines the length of the fringe loop 171.

By arranging the needles 33 and 34 to reciprocate vertically and providing the finger banks 73 and 74 to reciprocate transversely in a transverse vertical plane, the maximum use of gravity is made to maintain the web yarns 111 and 112 and the fringe yarns 39 and 40 separated during the rapidly moving operation. It will also be noted that the fringe 160 will hang downwardly through the key slots 153 and 154 as it is being fed forward by the wheels 131-134 until the belts 11 are taken up by the rolls and 146.

Another advantage of the vertical needle arrangement is the utilization of a minimum of fioor space for the entire machine 10. The strokes of the finger banks 73 and 74 relative to the strokes of the needles 33 and 34 are quite small. Consequently, the needle mechanism with the greatest stroke and consequently the greatest space requirements is arranged vertically, and the finger mechanism with a more limited stroke, and consequentlyless space requirements, is arranged transversely or horizontally, as disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 2. This arrangement is highly efficient in plants, where floor space is at a premium and overhead space is often wasted. Moreover, in addition to the amount of vertical space required for the reciprocation of the needle bar 28 and the needles 33 and 34, which must be sufficient to extend the height of the belt web plus the length of the fringe or 161, there must also be vertical space below the table 13 for the looper mechanisms 55-56 and 155.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A fringe tufting machine comprising:

(a) a frame,

(b) first web yarn guide means including vertically spaced first yarn guides,

(0) second web yarn guide means including vertically spaced second yarn guides,

(d) means mounted on said frame to reciprocably move said first and second guide means in closely spaced, vertical, parallel planes so that said first guides and said second guides reciprocate transversely through a common vertical feed plane intersecting said parallel planes and alternate between open positions spaced on opposite sides of said feed plane,

(e) a pair of cooperating feed rolls mounted on said frame on the opposite side of said first guide means from said second guide means for rotatable movement about vertical axes, said feed rolls being adapted to engage and converge into said feed plane first and second web yarns from said first and second yarn guides, respectvely,

(f) means positively rotating said feed rolls in opposite directions to pull said web yarns through said yarn guides,

(g) a smooth needle having a substantially straight pointed end,

(h) means on said frame for reciprocably moving said needle vertically substantially in said feed plane, closely adjacent said feed rolls, and between said feed rolls and said first guide means, from an upper position above said guide means to a lower position substantially below said guide means,

(i) means supplying fringe yarn to said needle,

(j) looper means on said frame below said guide means, operative to engage said fringe yarn carried by said needle in said lower position to form a fringe loop, and

(k) synchronous drive means operatively connecting said feed roll rotating means, said needle moving means and said means to move said guide means, so that said first guides and said second guides are spaced apart as the pointed end of said needle moves 7 from said upper position to a position below the lowermost web yarn. l 2. The invention according to claim 1 in which said means for moving said guide means comprises motion guides receiving said first and second guide means for transverse linear movement, a first rotary eccentric member having a rotary axis parallel to said feed plane and operatively connected to said first 'guide'means, a second rotary eccentric member having a rotary' axis parallel to the rotary axis of said first eccentric member and operatively connected to said second guide means for movement 180 out of phase with said first eccentric member, said synchronous drive means including means for driving said rotary members at a constant speed so that said guide meansare simultaneously driven in opposite transverse linear directions with simple harmonic motion.

3. The invention accordingto claim 2 in which said needle is in said upper position when said web yarn guide means are at each of said open positions, so that as said needle rises from said lower position it is wrapped by said web yarns crossing through said feed plane. Y

' References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Q 970,055 9/1910 Huebler m; 139-118 2,843,156 7/1958 Schwartz ;13918 3,241,507 3/1966 Dedmon et a1 l127/9 3,338,198 8/1967 Short et a1. 112-79 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 640,107 3/1928 France.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner. H. HAMPTON HUNTER, Examiner. 

